Cynthia Tucker: Ayn Rand is odd deity for GOP

6:37 PM,
Aug. 17, 2012

Cynthia Tucker

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Cynthia Tucker
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Rep. Paul Ryan, now the GOP vice presidential nominee, is an Ayn Rand acolyte, a loyal adherent to the philosophies of a woman whose views have enthralled fringe segments of the conservative movement for more than half a century. He is famous for giving her novels to staffers in his office.

He has even called her works the inspiration for his government career, according to an August profile by New Yorker writer Ryan Lizza, who quoted from a 2005 speech the congressman gave to the Atlas Society, an Ayn Rand fan club.

"The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one ...